The invention relates to a clothes rack for keeping garments, bags and other necessary objects, which clothes rack comprises a frame, and a movable locking part for connecting and/or locking the objects to the clothes rack, and means for moving the locking part, which is a locking bow. arranged to be movable with respect to the fastening frame.
A cloakroom in public buildings, restaurants, companies and other such premises can either be a manned cloakroom or an unguarded self-service type of cloakroom. For cost reasons, however, it is not feasible in most places to organize a guarded cloakroom service. It is always risky to leave particularly valuable clothes, such as leather jackets and fur coats, in an unguarded clothes rack. Nevertheless, losing even less valuable garments is also harmful to the owner. Since garments are increasingly being stolen, many communities, institutions and companies have started paying more attention to cloakroom services, because their public image includes the idea of them being responsible for keeping their customers"" property intact. Hence, a need for a lockable self-service clothes rack exists. On the other hand, renting the safety clothes racks, as they could be called, offers athletic clubs, societies and the like a great opportunity to raise funds. Those who own the safety clothes racks then fit them in the customer""s premises, thereby enabling the customer to improve the customer service and safety while those who rent the clothes rack can raise money to finance their activities.
A structural solution for the lockable clothes rack comprises a frame, a hanger attached to the frame and a wire, metal string, chain or other such locking part attached to the frame from its first end, and further, a lock device for locking the free end of the locking part. By means of such a clothes rack, a piece of clothing with an opening of any kind can be locked in such a manner that the locking part is slid through the opening, for example through an opening formed by a coat sleeve or a bag handle, and subsequently, the free end of the locking part is locked by means of the lock device such that the locked object cannot be unauthorizedly removed from the clothes rack. A disadvantage presented by the lockable clothes rack is, however, that only objects with said opening can be fastened thereto. In practice, it is thus impossible to lock headgear, gloves, scarves and the like to the clothes rack. A further disadvantage is that to use such a clothes rack solution which requires the sliding the locking part is time-consuming and difficult, which means that the clothes rack will not be actually used, at least not in the designed manner. The most serious disadvantage is, however, that the apparatus cannot guarantee sufficiently safe cloakroom services since the locking part, most often the wire, metal string or chain, can quite easily, quickly and silently be cut using wire cutters, for example, after which the locked object can be stolen from the clothes rack.
Furthermore, CH 470 570 discloses a lockable and collapsible clothes hanger comprising hinged suspension arms that can be inserted into coat sleeves and spread and locked such that the garment cannot be unauthorizedly removed from the hanger. The frame of the clothes hanger further comprises a lockable pressing part equipped with serrated clamps between which the garment can be clamped and locked. However, the clothes hanger is rather difficult and slow to use. In addition, the pressing part disclosed in said publication with its serrated clamps is rather rough on the garment to be fastened, thereby easily causing damage to clothes made of fine material in particular.
DE 26 05 831 discloses a clothes rack with a lockable suspension hook comprising a ball head hook in the lower part and a cupped hook in the upper part, which is turnable with respect to its hinges and which can be locked in a locking position wherein the cup of the cup-head hook of the upper part is pressed against the ball surface of the ball head hook of the lower part such that a garment hanging on the lower part hook by its suspension loop or other such part cannot be unauthorizedly taken. Such clothes racks based on locking the garments by their suspension loops, however, suffer from the disadvantage that the garments can easily be stolen therefrom by cutting the suspension loop or the like without, however, substantially damaging the stolen garment. Moreover, the suspension loop can be easily mended.
FI 83803 discloses a lockable clothes and bag hanger wherein garments are locked between clamping jaws and a bag can be hung by its strap from a loop part formed by the hanger. The hanger comprises a movable jaw and a screw mechanism whereby the movable jaw is pressed against a fixed jaw. The pressing, as well as the unpressing, can be carried out by rotating a handwheel, provided that the lock cylinder pins are opened by using a key. Such an apparatus, however, suffers from the disadvantage that, since the upper jaw is turnable with respect to its hinges, the hanger can rather easily be unlocked by wrenching the turnable jaw and the fixed jaw apart from each other with a suitable bar, for example, in which case the jaws are no longer able to clamp and lock the garment. This procedure can be carried out very quickly and silently. The use of the apparatus is also restricted by the fact that when the thickness of the garments to be locked varies significantly, it can be distressingly slow to lock the garments by rotating the handwheel.
An object of the invention is to provide a clothes rack which is reliable, simple and quick to use and suitable for keeping garments, bags and other objects safely in the clothes rack.
The clothes rack of the invention is characterized in that a power unit is connected to the fastening frame, which power unit is arranged to convey the locking bow into a locking position by means of moving elements.
A substantial idea underlying the invention is that locking objects to a clothes rack is carried out by means of a locking bow arranged to be movable with respect to a fastening frame and arranged to press the objects against the fastening frame such that they cannot be removed from the clothes rack unathorizedly. Furthermore, it is substantial that a power unit is arranged in the clothes rack for moving the locking bow, the power unit causing the locking bow to move between an unlocking position and a locking position, and further, generating a sufficient force to press the locking bow. Furthermore, a substantial idea underlying a preferred embodiment of the invention is that the locking bow is arranged to press an object to be locked against a substantially planar counter surface, in which case to move the locking bow in the lateral direction does not substantially affect the locking of the object. It is a further substantial idea of a second preferred embodiment of the invention that the moving apparatus is designed to be capable of keeping the locking bow in the locking position even while the power unit is switched off. An idea of a third embodiment of the invention is that the power unit is an electric motor and that the moving apparatus included in the clothes rack comprises a screw arranged to be rotated by the motor and a matching nut attached to the locking bow. A substantial idea of a fourth embodiment of the invention is that the moving elements comprise a self-locking toothed wheel for rotating the power unit and a self-locking toothed bar connected to the locking bow from its first end. An idea of another embodiment is that the moving elements comprise a thin drive belt arranged to be rolled by the power unit, which belt is supported at suitable intervals in order to prevent the belt from bending, the first end of the belt being connected to the locking bow.
An advantage provided by the invention is that it is suitable for locking garments, bags, etc. of all kinds. In principle, everything that can be at least to some extent pressed locally can be locked using the apparatus of the invention. Hence, the apparatus of the invention is versatile and safer than most prior art devices. The clothes rack of the invention is easy and quick to use, which means that in practice it is actually used; no risk that it would not be used exists. Automatic functions increase the user-friendliness. A further advantage is provided by the small size, particularly by the fact that the clothes rack requires crucially less space in the lateral direction than the prior art clothes rack solutions do. Consequently, many more clothes racks of the invention can be arranged in a given space than the known clothes racks. Hence, the apparatus of the invention saves space much more efficiently. Furthermore, the advantageous appearance and interesting operating principle of the apparatus combine to make the apparatus desirable and widely used. A still further advantage is that, thanks to its structure and operating principle, the apparatus is highly thiefproof. The power unit and the moving elements are well protected, the locking bow is made of firm material and the entire apparatus is rigidly fastened. A further advantage is that the pressing force of the locking does not depend on the user or the operating life of the apparatus since the apparatus is automatically locked and does not contain springs that become increasingly ineffective with time. The clothes rack of the invention further has the advantage that various electric functions can be connected to the operation of the clothes rack in a simple manner. Such functions include occupied/unoccupied detectors and burglar alarms.